Rehabilitation of discarded wooden railroad ties having disabling cracks in the ends of the ties

ABSTRACT

Apparatus and methodology by which used and discarded end cracked wooden railroad ties are reclaimed so as to close the end cracks allowing long term use of the reclaimed tie to support rails of a railroad.

FIELD OF INVENTION

This invention relates generally to railroad ties and more specifically to methodology and apparatus for rehabilitating wooden railroad ties, in salvage condition, having one or more disabling cracks in one or both ends of the tie.

BACKGROUND

Hundreds of thousands if not millions of spent and discarded wooden railroad ties clutter the American Continent and other locations as well. A principal cause of such railroad ties no longer being serviceable is due to disabling end cracks in the ties. After being discarded, the disabled wooden ties have only nominal value for constructing pig pens, supports for landscaping, fence posts and conversion to sawdust for compost, filler material or fuel.

Discarded split wooden railroad ties has been a long term problem and, heretofore, no way has been found to reclaim or rehabilitate these ties for later use to support the rails of a railroad.

BRIEF SUMMARY AND OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION

In brief summary, the present invention overcomes and/or alleviates problems of the past concerning end split discarded wooden railroad ties. Apparatus and methodology of this invention repairs, reclaims and rehabilitates used and discarded end cracked wooden railroad ties so as to close the end cracks for subsequent long term use to support rails of a railroad.

It is a primary object of this invention to overcome and/or alleviate problems of the past concerning end split discarded wooden railroad ties.

It is another significant object to provide apparatus and methodology for repairing, reclaiming and rehabilitating discarded used end cracked wooden railroad ties so as to close the end cracks for subsequent long term use to support rails of a railroad.

These and other objects and features of the present invention will be apparent from the detailed description taken with reference to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary perspective of a split end of a discarded or salvage wooden railroad tie;

FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic perspective of an apparatus by which force or compression temporarily closes cracks in both ends of a discarded or salvage wooden railroad tie and by which end cap retainers are installed to hold the cracks permanently closed;

FIG. 3 is a schematic top view of a system, similar to FIG. 2, using hydraulic and/or pneumatic cylinders to temporarily and permanently close the end cracks or splits in a wooden railroad tie;

FIG. 4 is a perspective of a rehabilitated previously discarded split end wooden railroad tie with end caps, ready for reuse to support the rails of a railroad;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary cross section of one split end of a rehabilitated wooden railroad tie, where the cracks are held permanently closed by a spiked clete; and

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary cross section of one split end of a rehabilitated wooden tie, where the cracks are held permanently closed by a tight circumferential band.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATED EMBODIMENTS

In the past, there has been no railroad technology by which discarded and disabled wooden railroad ties with split ends have been reclaimed, refurbished or rehabilitated for subsequent use to support the rails of a railroad track. Because it is commonplace for wooden ties to significantly split at one or both ends and, as a result, be discarded, there are hundreds of thousands if not millions of these type of discarded wooden railroad ties across this continent and in other places. Some of these discarded wooden railroad ties are left as ugly accumulations at various salvage locations. Others are used to construct pig pens, to do terraced landscaping, as fence posts and others are converted to sawdust for compost, filler material or fuel. Use as fuel is restricted, however, because typically wooden railroad ties are treated with Creosote, which, when burned, produces undesired and perhaps prohibited air pollution.

The present invention consists of apparatus and methodology by which used and discarded end cracked wooden railroad ties are repaired, reclaimed and rehabilitated so as to close the end cracks on a permanent basis for subsequent long-term use to support spaced rails of a railroad track. Compression is applied to one or both ends of the railroad tie to close all of the significant end cracks. While held in the crack-closing compressed condition, a retainer is applied to a permanently hold the crack or cracks in the closed condition, after which the compression force is removed. The retainer, thereafter, holds the crack or cracks at the end of the tie permanently in a closed condition for use to support the rails of a railroad track. The force applied to one or both cracked ends of a tie is preferably in a transverse direction involving a stop contiguous with one side of the tie end and a hydraulic or pneumatic cylinder contiguous with the other side. The retainer permanently holding the cracks closed may consist of cup-shaped end caps, end cletes, circumferential bands or any other suitable type of retainer by which the cracks at the end of the tie are retained in a closed condition. Filler material, such as adhesive, bonding agent, glue, wood filler or the like may be placed in the cracks prior to closure where, in the judgment of those skilled in the art, such would be helpful in rehabilitating the tie. The retainers may be applied using power-driven applicators.

Reference is now made to the drawings wherein like numerals are used to designate like parts throughout. FIG. 1 illustrates in fragmentary perspective a used and discarded railroad tie generally designated 10. As mentioned previously, discarded ties with one or two split ends have not heretofore been reconstituted for additional use in support of rails forming a railroad track but have either been stored or used nominally for non railroad purposes. Usually this type of discarded tie, such as tie 10, has a single generally vertical end crack which often runs from the blunt end surface 12 to a location adjacent to a tie plate upon which a railroad rail rests, prior to the tie being removed and discarded. Sometimes one or both ends of the tie have multiple disabling cracks. Two such cracks 14 are illustrated in FIG. 1. Cracks 14 are illustrated as extending a substantial distance in a longitudal direction, with each crack or slit 14 spanning between the top surface 16 the bottom surface 18 of the tie. Obviously, the damaged at rest width of the tie at the end illustrated in FIG. 1 is greater than the width thereof prior to creation of the cracks 14 or after compression. The tie 10 also comprises opposed side surfaces 20 and 22.

Prior to the procedure described in conjunction with FIGS. 2-6, those skilled in the art may find it desirable to place a suitable filler 24 in one or more cracks 14. This placement may be done in any suitable way including, but not limited to, an extrusion gun 26 (FIG. 1).

FIG. 2 illustrates in diagrammatic perspective the methodology utilized in carrying out the present invention. Tie 10, having disabling cracks 14 at both ends 28 and 30 is placed upon a rigid support of platform 32 so that the bottom surface 18 of the tie rests upon the top surface of the support platform 32, with the top surface 16 exposed to view. Side 20 is contiguous with a rigid stop 34 while force is applied to the side 22 at ends 28 and 30 in the direction of stop 20. This is shown diagrammatically at 36 and 38 so as to compressively close the cracks 14 at each end and to temporarily hold these cracks closed as cup-shaped end caps 40 and 42 are forcibly applied to each closed end 28 and 30 to permanently retain the cracks in a closed condition. The end caps 40 and 42 are illustrated as containing exposed spikes 44 with each cup which spikes penetrate the ends 14 of the tie when the end caps 40 and 42 are subjected to the forces diagrammatically illustrated at 46 and 48, respectively.

Once the end caps 40 and 42 have been properly placed over and securely attached to the ends 12 of the tie so as to be held against inadvertent removal, the tie is reconditioned and rehabilitated as illustrated in FIG. 4. At this point, crack closing forces 36 and 38 are removed as are forces 46 and 48. The completed rehabilitated tie, illustrated in FIG. 4, can be stored on site, placed in a warehouse or at an outdoor storage site or taken immediately for installation under railroad rails of a railroad track being repaired.

It is the intention, in further reference to FIG. 2, that the manner in which forces 36, 38, 46 and 48 are applied may be as a result of any suitable method or means. In reference to FIG. 3, one suitable approach is to apply force 36 utilizing the two-way hydraulic or pneumatic cylinder 50, to apply force 38 utilizing a two-way hydraulic or pneumatic cylinder 52, to apply force 46 utilizing a two-way cylinder 54 and to apply force 48 utilizing a two-way cylinder 56. However, as mentioned above, any suitable force applying technique may be used to carry out the methodology of FIG. 2.

In lieu of end cap retainers 40 and 42, a clete, generally designated 60 may be utilized. See FIG. 5. Clete 60 is illustrated as comprising an exposed plate with spikes extending from the plate 62 so as to be substantially embedded in the material comprising the tie 10 at the end thereof thereby permanently holding the cracks 14 in their closed condition.

In lieu of retainers 40, 42 and 60, a steel band 64, tightened to compressively hold an end of the tie so as to retain the cracks closed may be utilized. See FIG. 6. Any type of packaging type steel band may be applied to the cracked end of the tie using commercially available band applicators.

The invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. The present embodiments are, therefore, to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description, and all changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are therefore intended to be embraced therein. 

1. A method of repairing a used wooden railroad tie in salvage condition having at least one: disabling crack in an end of the tie comprising the acts of: applying compression to the disabling crack at the end of the tie to close the crack; applying a retainer to the end of the tie to permanently hold the crack in a closed condition; withdrawing the compression to accommodate later collectively placement of the tie and the retainer in use to support rails of a railroad.
 2. A method according to claim 1 wherein the first applying act comprises extension of at least one automated cylinder.
 3. A method according to claim 1 wherein the cracked end is transversely compressed between a hydraulic or pneumatic cylinder and a fixed stop.
 4. A method according to claim 1 wherein the second applying act comprises constraining the compressed end of the tie to retain the crack in its closed condition using a retainer selected from the group consisting of cup-shaped end caps, end cletes and circumferential bands.
 5. A method according to claim 1 further comprising the act of placing a filler material in the end crack prior to the applying compression act.
 6. In combination: a used wooden railroad tie in salvage condition having at least one disabling crack in at least one end of the tie; at least one force applying mechanism for applying transverse force to the cracked end of the tie to temporarily close the crack; at least one retainer for attachment to the cracked end of the tie to permanently hold the crack in a closed condition; at least one mechanism for attaching the retainer to the cracked end of the tie;
 7. A combination according to claim 6 wherein the used wooden tie comprises at least one disabling crack in each end of the tie, the at least one force applying mechanism comprises two force applying mechanisms one for closing each cracked end of the tie and the at least one retainer comprises two retainers one for each end of the tie.
 8. A combination according to claim 7 wherein the at least one mechanism for attaching comprise two mechanisms for attaching one mechanism for each cracked end of the tie.
 9. A combination according to claim 6 wherein the at least one force applying mechanism comprises at least one stop to engage one side of the cracked end of the tie and a two-way cylinder for engaging a second side of the cracked end of the tie.
 10. A combination according to claim 6 wherein the at least one retainer is selected from the group consisting of cup-shaped end caps, end cletes and circumferential band fasteners.
 11. A combination according to claim 6 wherein the at least one mechanism for attaching is selected from the group consisting of end cap applicators, clete applicators and band fastener applicators.
 12. A method of rehabilitating a used wooden railroad tie in salvage condition having at least one disabling crack in one or both ends comprising the acts of: forcibly temporarily closing all disabling end cracks in the tie; applying a retainer to one or both ends of the tie with each disabling end crack temporarily closed to permanently close each disabling end crack; removing the force which temporarily closed each disabling end crack. 